Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there, good day, everybody. Welcome in to our Tuesday show.
What a pleasant day. We have some maybe stormy weather
on the way this evening around our state, but for
today another day to enjoy it. I'm gonna head over
to Churchill Downs and soak up of Derby atmosphere later
today gather at maybe a few interviews that we'll have
(00:23):
for you later in the week. Today we will chat
with Larry Vaught in the first half of the show
get his take on UK sports, and then Randy Moss
from NBC Sports in the second half of the show,
talking about the Derby and also maybe a little on
the NFL and the Shooter Sanders situation and more. Since
(00:45):
Randy has covered the league for many years as well
as covering thoroughbred racing. Wild Cat news of the day
of service of Giuseppes of Lexington. They presented the Catsby
Awards last night and that's one of the things Mitch
Barnhardt implemented shortly after he arrived at UK. It was
one of the things on his list that he wanted
(01:06):
to do if they hired him to be the ad
at Kentucky and it's been a rousing success for many years.
It's a chance for the athletes from all these different
sports to come together under one roof for one night,
get dressed up to the max and honor the best
of the best.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
And we won't go.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Through all of the awards. There are many of them,
but just a few. The Teams of the Year Baseball,
Rifle and Volleyball. The Female Athlete of the Year tied
Georgia Amore and Brooklyn Delay. Male Athlete of the Year
Ryan Waldschmitt from baseball, Mister Wildcat Award three of them,
Lamont Butler, Devon Berksey, like Cox the Miss wild Cat Award,
(01:51):
Brooklyn Delay Emma Grome is a bellow Agnelly. So congrats
to all of them and all of the rest of
the winners for the Catsby Awards last night. You go
to UK Athletics dot com and see the full list
of winners and a lot of fantastic pictures from the night.
(02:13):
UK Baseball is on the road at Western Kentucky tonight
and then they'll be at Mississippi State this weekend, so
it is a busy weekend of travel for the resurgent
Kentucky baseball team. This is a tough spot tonight for
Kentucky because they are facing a Western team that already
has thirty wins on the season, and this game will
(02:37):
pitch first pitch will be at seven Eastern time down
in Bowling Green. Darren Hedrick will have the call on
the UK Radio Network with a six forty five start,
and you can also watch on ESPN Plus, not SEC
Network Plus, it says, but ESPN, ESPN Plus tonight, and
Kentucky has put itself back in a much more favorable
(03:00):
position for the NCAA Tournament with what it's done recently,
winning series against Tennessee and South Carolina on back to
back weekends. Now they just need to keep doing what
they're doing and not have any missteps, and losing another
out of conference.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Game would be a bit of a misstep.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So important game tonight for Kentucky down in Bowling Green.
Evan Miakala came out yesterday with the ranking by his
analytics the top defenders in the transfer class for the
upcoming college basketball season, and there are two Wildcats in
the top five. At the top of the list Jaden
(03:43):
Quaintan's and his shot blocking ability and number four on
the list Mohammed di Abate coming in from Alabama with
his versatility. Overall, Miacala has Kentucky's class ranked second overall
to Michigan. We'll get Evan on the show here soon
to delve deeper into these numbers. It is a Kentucky
team that should be significantly improved defensively, and that's only
(04:08):
that opinion is only bolstered by these numbers from Evan
mia Kawa. Trevon Ribka has found an NFL home to
take a shot at landing a spot in the league,
and that is with the Miami Dolphins. He has signed
an undrafted free agent deal, so I wish him well
along with the other guys who are trying to make
it in the NFL. And Chad Baker Mazara from Auburn,
(04:32):
he has found a landing spot. He's going to Southern Cal.
And Andres Stryakovich, he was a player that Kentucky was
involved with last season, ended up going to Cal. Put
his name in the portal, and you know, I'm sure
Kentucky had some level of interest, but I don't know.
I think it got serious on that side, but just
(04:52):
interesting to figure out where to learn where he landed
and it's at Illinois with a lot of other European players,
so that is going to be a very international Illinois
lineup next season. For coach Underwood links to the stories
that we talk about each day. You can find those
on the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom Leachky
(05:12):
dot com. Our Wildcat News other day segments always presented
by Giuseppes of Lexington, just off Nicholasville Road out past
manal War here in Lexington, and I think anybody in
this area has certainly been many times. But if you've
never been, and occasionally I'll run into somebody who hasn't,
got to make plans to get to Giuseppes. If you
(05:33):
live here, or the next time you're in Lexington, go
to open table, make plans to get to Giuseppes. The
food's fantastic and a lot of it's locally sourced and
then the ambniance sit in the lounge area, enjoy the
live jazz music to accompany your meal. It's something really
special at Giuseppes. Will be write back and we will
chat with Larry Vatt about UK sports on the Leech Report,
(05:54):
presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Leach Report coming to you from
the Clark's pump Been Shop Studio, return, refresh and refuel
at Clark's and also sign up for their loyalty program
you get great discounts on fuel and items in their stores.
Larry Vaught is with us from your sports Edge dot com,
vossfus dot com on the Club Blueenil dot com hotline.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And if you read Larry's work.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
He does as good a job as anybody has for
years and covering all the sports, and that includes some
that don't get as much attention as football and men's
and women's basketball at the college level. And Larry a
night like last night, the Catsby Awards honors the full
spectrum of athletes in the UK athletics department.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So let me ask you this question.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Of all these athletes that got recognized, and some of
the you know a name like Lamont Butler or Eli
Cox or maybe even Brooklyn Delay Am Macrome, they're they're
a little more recognizable. The average fan maybe has heard
those names more often. Who's somebody who are somebody's that
got recognized that really deserved that special recognition for having
(07:08):
an exceptional year.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I would think Isabella mcbelly jumps out at me as
much or more than anybody for what she did this
year and what she's done during her career on the
UK gymnastics team. I mean, she's been pretty phenomenal, seven
time All America and just became known as the Being
Queen because of the consistency and the excellence she had
(07:33):
performing there. So that would be the one that jumps
out to me, probably more than anybody.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Kind of feels like you're more knowledgeable about this sport
than I because you covered regularly. Gymnastics seems to me
like a little bit like volleyball in that you just
had a feeling that volleyball is going to break through
and win a national title at some point and then
and they stay in the hunt for it regularly with
(07:58):
Craig Skinner and is knocking on the door now multiple
years in succession. Kind of feels like that's going to
happen at some point for them.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Tim Garrison has done a really remarkable job. It is
consistently putting together teams good enough to get to the
region and there's such a small margin between being a
national champion and not quite making the Elite eight or
something that the scores are so close and there's such
a and it's all subjective with how the judges looks
(08:32):
at different things. So it's really a fun sport to
go watch. You've never seen it, I would certainly encourage.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You to go.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
And just for a little shameless plug, this is coming
Sunday morning on our Sunday Morning Sports talk show. We
will have all American Crestlin Bros, Delaney Rodriguez, and Sharon Lay,
three sophomores off this year's team who will be the
building blocks for the next two years because Tam was
bringing in by freshmen that are seemed pretty talented, but
(09:06):
he's losing, like I say, Isabella McNelly and a Hailey
Davis and a couple other seniors who've been really.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Really good.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So those are going to be the three. It'll be
his foundation for the next two years. So if you're
a gymnastics fan at all or I think you might
want to be join us on Sunday morning and you'll
get to hear from them.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All right, And if you joined the guys last Sunday
on the Sunday Morning Sports Talk show, you heard the
Big Dog Vince Marrow on to do a little post
draft discussion and it's some interesting comments about Dion Walker.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
He did said that the Buffalo Bills people that he
talked to thought they might have had to steal the
draft and Dion, and that Vince flat agreed with that
and thinks that Dion was the best defensive tackle in there,
and talked about the fact that where he was injured
last year, he could have just probably set out a
(09:59):
lot of those games when he said he wanted to
try to play, but because he played injured that sometimes
he wasn't as effective as what he could be when
he was healthy, and people didn't quite understand that. And
I'd say I'm one of those because I didn't know
he was hurt either like that, and once you found
out that he was dealing with a back injury, he
kind of wondered how he did manage to.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Play and do what he did.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
So Vince is never going to be lacking confidence in
his players. I mean, that's one thing I like about
Vince is a lot like Mark Pope. He's never going
to throw a guy under the bus. He's always going
to be one hundred percent on their side. But he's
really confident that Dion's going to have a successful NFL career,
and I sure hope that he's right.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And I do too.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
And I understand what you're saying about Vince in his
relationship with his guys, but that seems like that phrase
steel of the draft could be applicable. If you think
back to Dion Walker at his best, and you know
Andrew Carr dealt with back issues. It's something that you
can't see, like when you know, somebody blows out a
(11:01):
knee or injures and achilles, or you know, has a
broken bone or a scar of some point some type.
But back pain can be very real if you've ever
dealt with it, and can be debilitating. So you know,
if that's something that he was, you know, fighting through,
you can understand why it would perhaps affect production. But
(11:21):
I just think back to, Yeah, I think about sometimes
with horses, since it's Derby Week, if you see that
the horse has done something spectacular at some point, well,
you know that's in there and you just got to
find a way to get back to it. And there
was some pretty special plays, especially the first two seasons
that we saw from Dion.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah that's twenty twenty three season. He was just spectacular.
There was a reason he was being mentioned as a
top ten pick in the draft. Going into the twenty
twenty four season. So that was based on what he
did in twenty twenty three and what anybody's saying, Oh no,
that's all overblown, that can't be true. I mean everybody
was pretty much good census, So that was what could happen.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And he dropped considerably his senior year when his production
dropped off.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
But again after you found out that he was hurt,
and I think when you just look at his size
and athleticism, there's still a lot a lot in that
tank that could be right there in the Buffalo Bills
need a player like him. They traded up to get him.
Granted it was in the fourth round, but they still
moved up to make sure that they got him. So
(12:28):
I'm anxious to see how he will do. And it's
really cool that he's going to a team that's really
a good team but yet also seems to have a
spot where they can use him.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Tyer Larry Vott on the Club Blue nil dot com
hotline and we'll continue the conversation here in just a
moment on the Leach Report, presented each and every day
by Bobcat Enterprises. For locations for Bobcat around the state,
so google Bobcat when you need to buy or rent
a piece of heavy equipment. Most likely they're going to
have what you need and they will give you a
(13:00):
fantastic service after the sale as well. Great folks at
Bobcat Enterprises. We'll be right back twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Five past the top of the hour. It is the
Leads Report.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We're visiting with Larry Vott from your sports edge dot com.
A couple more things on football areas or articles that
fans can find at your site. Martell's Carter is you
chatted with his high school coach who he thinks Bartell's
could be a two way player in college. I don't
know that that's going to happen anytime soon, but I
would think that in addition to playing in the secondary,
(13:33):
he could be an impact player on special teams for
them next season.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, I would think so too, and he's an awfully
special guy. But with that ball in his hands, so
I think I've learned to never say never now that
I know Martell's was sensational on the state championship team
last year as a receiver, and maybe there'll be a
chance to put him in there a time or two.
I know I've talked with Vince about that a little
(13:59):
bit couple of different times, and he's kind of like you,
he said, I don't know, but he also never said
that it couldn't possibly happen. So I think he's got
a lot to learn in that secondary right now. But
down the road it wouldn't surprise me and Kentucky scenesas
he'll be looking for receiver help this year, So who
(14:19):
knows what might happen come August.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, that's a fair point down the road. I could
certainly say it usually just I just know coaches are
it's hard to find any who are that aggressive with
a freshman. But we'll see. But you know, he's obviously
a dynamic talent. And then the other one you wrote
about was Dante Daldll, the transfer from Nebraska, and that
(14:44):
he aspires to be more than just the short yardage specialist.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think he came in No.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
One.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That's maybe the role he was recruited to have at Kentucky,
but he wants to show he can do a lot
more than that. I think he did a good bit
of that in this spring of convincing folks that yeah,
he could be your bell cow back there. Maybe that's
and that's what he wants to do. And he's a
guy that's certainly eager to prove that he can excel
in the SEC as an everydawn type of back and
(15:15):
not just a guy you put in on third and
two or fourth and one or something like that. So
I really like his attitude and he seems to have
kind of backed up what he has said with what
he did during the spring practice.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Now you're right about that, And he showed a little
pop in that spring showcase. I think it was the
first play they handed it to him, and I think
had it been tackle football and not touch on that
scrimmage that he might have well gone sixty plus yards
for a touchdown. So he's, you know, not just a
plotter by any means.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, it's kind of like reminded me a little bit
when he broke that one, kind of the first time
I saw Chris Rodriguez break a big run and think, wow,
thank guys got a little more speed to what I
wanted to realize that he that he had that he
can get out there and do a little bit. Now
I can't. We haven't seen how it will be breaking
tackles at the SEC level. Because you just don't get
to see that and what limited training practice were able
(16:09):
to be there for. So but based on what he's
done before, I'm with you. I think he's going to
be probably a much bigger edition of the offense. And
when I first imagined when the Kentucky got in him, you.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Know, I think I'll have to look this up before
the season to confirm it, but I think Chris may
have the record school record for most runs of seventy
yards or more, which you know, not a lot of those,
but I know he had two, if not more.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean, and that's something when he first kind
of burst on the scene. That wasn't the impression that
I had a Chris rotorguess was going to be. But yeah,
that's what he could do. And if Dante can just
kind of have that kind of big playability, maybe they
even can never even see it. But I mean, if
he can just make those two or three yards or
(16:59):
four or five yards stretch him into ten or twelve
because of what he can do with his burst, that
would be a big, big plus for this offense.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
It's an article from ESPN's Jeff Barzella projecting the starting
five for Kentucky men's basketball next season, and he had
low Way acquaintance Diabatee and Jasper Johnson the freshman, and
that seems reasonable. I'd probably think Aberdeen might be there
instead of Jasper, but that could be a great battle,
(17:27):
and it just serves to underscore they're gonna have I think,
probably more quality depth this season.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, they sure are, And I think it would really
be wonderful if Aberdeen didn't start, just because of the
fact he's so used to that role of coming off
the bench and did it so well at Florida. To
know that you've got a guy like that that you
could bring in when you need him off the bench
would certainly give you a weapon that most teams won't have.
(17:56):
But again, I never thought they would be able to
add somebody near as good as him this light with
who they already had on the roster. So that's maybe
as surprised I can pick up as Mark Hope as.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I had Larry Vaught.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Thank you much, all right, Tom, We'll be right back
on the Leach Report. It's the Leach Report coming to
you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, Refresh and
refuel with Clarks. We go to the Club blueenisl dot
com hotline. Bring on Randy Moss from NBC Sports. He'll
be on the coverage this weekend down at Churchill Downs
for Oaks and Derby with Jerry Bailey and the rest
(18:31):
of the crew and Randy will we'll talk a little
bit about the in your NFL work as well and
some thoughts on draft. But let's start obviously with the Derby.
And we have a pretty strong favorite in journalism at
three to one in the morning line and is from
(18:52):
you know, figure standpoint, the impressive all the anybody watches
the workouts in the mornings, all of that coverage, we
now get he's getting rave reviews. So is journalism the
best of a tight pack or is this like, you know,
an American Pharaoh Barbara level kind of separation from the pack.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I think, Tom, I think he's two or three links
better than the field. I I really do. I think
he is the most legitimate favorite that we've had at
the Kentucky Derby, and it's likely to be the shortest
price favorite we've had at the Derby since Justify an
(19:36):
American Pharaoh. Now I'm not, you know, predicting that he's
going to sweep the triple crown or anything like that.
But I think I think he's the real deal. As
a matter of fact, I think the second best three
year old in America is Baieza. And obviously we don't
even know if he's going to be in the lineup
or not.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
What is it about journalism that gives you that confidence
in his chances of winning the Derby?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
He doesn't seem to have any weaknesses as a race horse,
right He's got some tactical speed, but he also is
very patient and can sit I think probably about as
far back as they want him to sit. He's consistent,
the distance is no problem, and more than anything else,
(20:25):
he's fast and we saw that in his race before last.
I think it was the San Felipe where he ran
against Barnes from the Bob Baffert. Barn and Barnes controlled
the pace, nice, easy tempo and the Barnes ran a
hole in the wind. The one mile split that they
ran in that mile in the sixteenth race was off
(20:46):
the charts really fast, and Journalism just ran him down
and very impressively. It was a one oh eight buyer
speed figure. Then he overcame adversity in the satan Ada Derby.
Quite frankly, Jerry Bailey and I have a disagreement about this.
I didn't like the ride that he got, but he
overcame adversity and and won anyway and ran down Baasa,
(21:10):
who was running himself a really strong race. So I
did there's a lot to like there, and on the
ledger of the negatives, very.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Very little, you know, hit the sanity to Derby in
watching that in in real time. Baasa opened up as
they turned into the stretch, and by that point journalism
was still you know, looked like the jockey was really
getting to work on him. You're thinking, Okay, he's he's
not he didn't have it today and you know this
has bothered him or whatever. But once he kind of
(21:39):
extricated himself from that box he was in and got out,
uh in about two strides, you realized if you were
a fan of biasa uh oh, I'm gonna need a
bigger boat.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean he wanted to win, he
had a target, he wanted to run down the target.
And that that, you know, that seems to be one
of the traits about journalism that really stands out the most.
There's a lot to like of it. I'm the main
concern that I have about him, honestly, and it may
not even be a fair concern. I'm always joking with
(22:12):
Jerry Bailey about you know, jockeys don't matter. He mentions
that on the air sometimes and he takes it well.
But my point is that when you get to a
race like the Kentucky Derby, when you get to days
like the Breeders' Cup, there's very little difference between elite
jockey A, B, C, D, E, F G. And in
(22:32):
the Derby you get elite jockeys. So you know, I
think people that handicap the jockeys in some of these
races are making a mistake because they're pretty much all
good I have, and maybe I'm wrong I have. I
don't want to say reservations, but I know that if
this race were on the grass on Berto recently would
(22:53):
be on that short list career wise, stat wise, he
has been much better on grass than dirt, and there
was trouble in the Santinita Derby, so that would be
my primary concern, But maybe that's a little overblown now.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I think I see where you're coming from.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I talked to a group in Louisville last Friday, And
as you know, listing all the good qualities about journalism,
I said the two things that could get him beat
and that's one of them. If the you know, the jockie,
and we don't know that he's unable to do it,
it's just there's nothing to definitively say that he has.
(23:35):
And right going into the NC DOUBLEA tournament, Mark Pope,
Todd Golden had never won an NC DOUBLEA tournament game
and they did okay because they had better horses, so
to speak, than they'd had before.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So that could be exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
And I'm still picking journalism, and I'm confident in journalism.
But you know, if you have to say, you know,
all right, well you know what's a possible negative about journalism,
that would be about the only thing that I could
come up with. But we've seen repeatedly in derby history
jockeys that had never won the derby before, maybe even
ever ridden in the derby before, you know, come through
because they were on the best horse. Stuart Elliott and
(24:11):
Smarty Jones, you know, Ron Franklin and Spectacular Bid. You
you can go way back and pick out several of them.
You know Sunny leone and rich Strike.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, very recently.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
The other thing I wondered about, and you've been around
maybe journalism a little bit, just in terms of he
is a big horse and long stride and those kinds
of horses. You know, you know, he did get kind
of trapped in a box, still got out of it
down in the Sanity To Derby, but those horses, you know,
(24:45):
not as nimble as say It was kind of like
the difference between Sunday Silence and easygo Er a little
bit back in eighty nine. Is that something that is
a concern or did the post position draw maybe alleviate
any of that.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I think journalism for a horse of his size is
pretty nimble, and I know Michael McCarthy talks about that
and recently talks about that as well. And you saw
in the san Anita Derby when when he got race
ridden so to speak, by one Hernandez and Barnes right
outside of him, and the riders were even kind of
exchanging elbows at one point at the seven sixteenth pol.
(25:20):
It was only a team tactics there. It was good
race riding, but you know, journalism was in a difficult
spot and Fortunately for journalism, Hernandez ran out a horse
on Barns and couldn't keep him locked in there behind
the maiden who was setting the pace. And as soon
as Barnes dropped back off a little bit, you saw
journalism quickly just boom, get to the outside and really
(25:44):
start to roll, a really quick turn of foot. So
that doesn't bother me that much.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I don't think talking with Randy Moss from NBC Sports.
Will take a break and continue the conversation here in
just a bit about Derby One's fifty one this Saturday
at Churchill Downs. It's the Leach Report and we are
presented by Bobcat Enterprises quarter before the time of the
hour of visiting with Randy Moss from NBC Sports. She'll
be part of the team covering the Oaks and Derby
(26:10):
this weekend. Rand if you go to a department story
of the men's department's department, the children's department after the
post position draw, looks like you have the speed department
down in one part of the starting gate and the
closer department and other parts of the gate. I thought
that was an interesting angle to this race in terms
of pretty much all the speed being down there congested together.
(26:33):
So what are you expecting in terms of the race?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Strategically very fast pace.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
I was expecting it before the draw, and as you
pointed out, with all the but not all the speed,
but a lot of the speed, you know, down in
the inside half a dozen post positions, it certainly makes
it look like that's what's going to happen. I think, yeah,
I do a lot of pace work, and I used
to have pace figures in the racing form and things
like that, so I think I've got a pretty good
grip on the pace. To me, the pace is going
(27:01):
to come down between Citizen Bowl and East Avenue. I
think Citizen bowls faster than Rodriguez, And you know they
were talking about Owen Almighty trying to settle him a
little bit off the pace. I honestly think Citizen Bull
is going to set the pace. I think he'll beat
East Avenue to the lead. But I think it's going
to come at a cost. They're going to have to
(27:22):
They're going to be rolling, and so that's why, you know,
I'm looking like almost everybody else, I think I'm I'm
looking at the closers. I mean, I think it's journalism sovereignty,
Sandman Basa. If he gets in, I mean, I think
the winner is going to come out of out of
one of those four. Pace being the primary reason, other
(27:44):
than journalism being the best horse.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, if any horse can hold up to exceptionally fast
pace and still have something in the stretch, I would
always think is the best guy to bet on is
a baffer horse to do that because exactly of how
fit they're going to be. I think of like body Meister,
(28:06):
who you know, just Baffort is one of the Baffert horses.
He just took the fight to everybody, and anybody that
dared to be too close to him got fried. But
he still couldn't hold off one of the closers. But
that's the interesting angle on that horse. Because boys looked
good on the track this week and he had a
spensation to work out yesterday.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Yeah, I'm not sure he's got the sheer speed that
Body Meister had. But a lot of people were, you know,
handwringing and stuff about the number one post position for
Citizen Ball. I love it, absolutely love it. He's a
horse that has to have the lead, I think, and
I know Martine Garcia loved it because now there's no
(28:47):
ambiguity he's going. And you know, I like for a
speed horse that needs to have the lead, I like
the number one post. And if there is a horse
that is going to be able to carry the field
a long way on the early lead, I think Citizen
Bull would be that horse because of the baffort factor,
because of what we've seen from him in the past,
(29:09):
because of the way he's training, and also because the
racing surface at Santa Anita has become much deeper than
it used to be. And now these horses go from
Santa Anita to Churchill, and the Churchill surface is actually
tighter and faster than sant Anita, And I think that'll
work to Citizen Bule's favor as well.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
If your assessment of journalism is accurate, then there's a
separation between him and the rest of the pack. It
seems to me that that rest of the pack, if
you don't pick journalism, then it becomes hard to really
get convinced on any one of the rest. Would that
be correct?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I think so, I think that's correct. I actually think
I think I said this earlier with you. I think
Maasa is the second best three year old in America.
Maybe I didn't say that, but and post twenty wouldn't
bother me at all for Baeza, just because of the way,
as you pointed out, the way the race looks like
it's developing. You've got five or six speed horses, you've
(30:09):
got six or seven deep closers, and then you've got
this gap in the middle. They're going to be pretty
stretched out because of the pace, and post twenty is
actually not a bad spot to be because you can
kind of ease over in that middle area and not
lose as much ground as you would think from post twenty. Sovereignty,
I think he's set to run a much better race
than he ran into Florida Derby. He's shown that he
(30:29):
loves Churchill Downs. He hasn't had the kind of pace
in front of him that he's going to get in
the Kentucky Derby. If you go back and look at
how awesome he was when he won the street since
at Churchill Downs as a two year old, there was
no pace in that race, and he still came from
last and outran Sandman, and I think Fantastic was in there.
So I think Sovereignty's going to run a big race too.
And Sandman. People look at his Arkansas Derby and they say, oh, yeah, okay,
(30:55):
he won, but he had a forty five and changed
pace in front of him. He had the perfect setup. Well,
what do you think is going to happen to the derby?
You know? So that's why I think, you know, one
of those horses is are going to be the biggest
threats to journalism sovereignty Sandman and Beza.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
What about the Kentucky Oaks on Friday? Do you have
a similar opinion on any one horse?
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Not really, tom uh. This this is the classic handicapping dilemma.
Do you believe what your lying eyes tell you or
do you believe what's on paper? If you if you
go by what you watch, then they can't beat Good
Cheer because you know, she's just she seems to just
(31:39):
dominate any of the horses that she's running against, and
she's going to be a pretty solid favorite. But on paper,
the numbers, the analytics, she doesn't have much of an
edge at all over you know, Quiet Side and simply
joking and five G and some of these other three
year old phillies in there as well. So it wouldn't
(32:01):
surprise me at all. I leaned toward the analytics more
than the visuals, So it wouldn't surprise me at all
if if good Cheer is a heavy favorite but someone
takes her down.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Shift to an NFL question.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
You've covered the league for a long time, how crazy
was it following this draft with what happened to Shaduur Sanders?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Crazy? Absolutely crazy when you consider that the networks that
were covering the draft, you know, sort of made Shadur
Sanders a poster child going in and all the promos
and everything is Shadure, this shadure that uh and fit round,
I mean for crying out allowd. But then in hindsight,
(32:43):
it really shouldn't have been I think that big of
a shock because now when you think about it and
you talk to some NFL people his skills, he's obviously
very talented, but he's most of the NFL, I don't
want to say analysts, but you know, most of the
(33:03):
people who study this sort of thing, personnel people in
the NFL believe that Shadur Sanders is not the kind
of quarterback given the system he ran in Colorado that's
going to step in and be a Day one starter
in the NFL. So he's going to need to be
a backup initially, and with his notoriety, his reputation, it's
(33:24):
going to be a distraction. He's not going to be this,
you know, this invisible backup quarterback that NFL teams love.
He's going to be somebody that the media is going
to be hyper focused on. And then there's the personality
aspect of it, right because he had the personality to
sit patiently, quietly as a backup quarterback. And when you
(33:46):
hear about the interviews that he had that some of
the NFL teams were concerned about, I think that was
their primary concern. So it doesn't surprise me that, in
hindsight now that a lot of these teams were hesitant
to put themselves in that kind of a spot.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Randy, thank you much. Have a great week in Kentucky
and a great show this or good shows this weekend.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Thanks so much. I'm stomping around the backside right now.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Well I'm sure you're in great company. Thank you, Randy.
Take you.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
It is Randy Moss from NBC Sports. Corn Bread Hemp
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Speaker 2 (35:09):
At check out.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
We'll be right back. Shufflebean Coffee He's made right here
in the Bluegrass group of Kentuckians got together to form
the company more than a decade ago with the idea
of making the best cup of coffee possible. They like
to say they follow the process of the quality from
seed to cup. Starts with the very best coffee Beans.
You can read more about the company in that process
(35:32):
at Shufflebean dot Us. You order some product there, you
can get it through Amazon or pick it up at
Central Kentucky Myers Stores. Put some hustle in your shuffle
with Kentucky based Shufflebean Coffee stand. Wildcat History is the
service of Kentucky road Show Sports Cards in Memorabilia. They're
on Romney Road in Lexington at a roadshowcards dot Com.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
On this day, Kentucky fans bought seventy five thousand blue
dipped makers Mark Bottles celebrate the nineteen ninety eight National
Championship run. Happy birthday to the voice of UK baseball
and women's basketball, Darren Headrick. He'll be working on his
birthday down in Bowling Green on the call of the
Kentucky baseball game tonight at Western at six forty five Eastern,
(36:16):
and he shares a birthday with one of the all
time greats for Kentucky women's basketball, Ryan Howard, So happy
birthday to both of them. Congratulations to Matt Wise, a
former Transylvania University player played for Brian Lane over at Trancy.
He's been named the new women's head basketball coach at Samford.
He is the son of friend of the show, Mark Wise,
(36:37):
is a long time analyst on the Florida Gator Network
now is a college basketball analyst for ESPN. Been on
the show many times, so I know he's and his
wife are very proud of their son Matt getting this
big opportunity. Take a second to talk about the official
nil fundraising partner for UK That is Club Blue and
a new initiative that they are launching, Club Blue Kids.
(36:59):
It's the ultimate club for young Wildcat fans. Get them
started early. Members get awesome perks. You get access to
exclusive events, athlete experiences, meet and greets, a membership card,
an official Kids club T shirt and lanyard and you
get it all as a member of Club Blue Kids.
And it's totally free. Sign up now at Club blueodil
(37:21):
dot com. Click the Kids tab to register and some
big things are coming soon, So get your young cat
fans signed up Club Blue nil dot com. Club Blue
Kids were future Cats rep the Blue with Pride. UK
Men's tennis chosen for another NCAA tournament. They will face
Old Dominion on Friday at two Eastern time. Thanks to
(37:44):
Larry Vott, Thanks to Randy Moss and giving us his
great insight on the Derby. Today our Derby and Triple
Crown coverage again this springs presented by Clayborne Farm doing
the usual unusually well for more than a century. Have
a great day and will see you tomorrow. On the
Leak's Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises
Hey there, good day, everybody. Welcome in to our Tuesday show.
What a pleasant day. We have some maybe stormy weather
on the way this evening around our state, but for
today another day to enjoy it. I'm gonna head over
to Churchill Downs and soak up of Derby atmosphere later
today gather at maybe a few interviews that we'll have
(00:23):
for you later in the week. Today we will chat
with Larry Vaught in the first half of the show
get his take on UK sports, and then Randy Moss
from NBC Sports in the second half of the show,
talking about the Derby and also maybe a little on
the NFL and the Shooter Sanders situation and more. Since
(00:45):
Randy has covered the league for many years as well
as covering thoroughbred racing. Wild Cat news of the day
of service of Giuseppes of Lexington. They presented the Catsby
Awards last night and that's one of the things Mitch
Barnhardt implemented shortly after he arrived at UK. It was
one of the things on his list that he wanted
(01:06):
to do if they hired him to be the ad
at Kentucky and it's been a rousing success for many years.
It's a chance for the athletes from all these different
sports to come together under one roof for one night,
get dressed up to the max and honor the best
of the best.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
And we won't go.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Through all of the awards. There are many of them,
but just a few. The Teams of the Year Baseball,
Rifle and Volleyball. The Female Athlete of the Year tied
Georgia Amore and Brooklyn Delay. Male Athlete of the Year
Ryan Waldschmitt from baseball, Mister Wildcat Award three of them,
Lamont Butler, Devon Berksey, like Cox the Miss wild Cat Award,
(01:51):
Brooklyn Delay Emma Grome is a bellow Agnelly. So congrats
to all of them and all of the rest of
the winners for the Catsby Awards last night. You go
to UK Athletics dot com and see the full list
of winners and a lot of fantastic pictures from the night.
(02:13):
UK Baseball is on the road at Western Kentucky tonight
and then they'll be at Mississippi State this weekend, so
it is a busy weekend of travel for the resurgent
Kentucky baseball team. This is a tough spot tonight for
Kentucky because they are facing a Western team that already
has thirty wins on the season, and this game will
(02:37):
pitch first pitch will be at seven Eastern time down
in Bowling Green. Darren Hedrick will have the call on
the UK Radio Network with a six forty five start,
and you can also watch on ESPN Plus, not SEC
Network Plus, it says, but ESPN, ESPN Plus tonight, and
Kentucky has put itself back in a much more favorable
(03:00):
position for the NCAA Tournament with what it's done recently,
winning series against Tennessee and South Carolina on back to
back weekends. Now they just need to keep doing what
they're doing and not have any missteps, and losing another
out of conference.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Game would be a bit of a misstep.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So important game tonight for Kentucky down in Bowling Green.
Evan Miakala came out yesterday with the ranking by his
analytics the top defenders in the transfer class for the
upcoming college basketball season, and there are two Wildcats in
the top five. At the top of the list Jaden
(03:43):
Quaintan's and his shot blocking ability and number four on
the list Mohammed di Abate coming in from Alabama with
his versatility. Overall, Miacala has Kentucky's class ranked second overall
to Michigan. We'll get Evan on the show here soon
to delve deeper into these numbers. It is a Kentucky
team that should be significantly improved defensively, and that's only
(04:08):
that opinion is only bolstered by these numbers from Evan
mia Kawa. Trevon Ribka has found an NFL home to
take a shot at landing a spot in the league,
and that is with the Miami Dolphins. He has signed
an undrafted free agent deal, so I wish him well
along with the other guys who are trying to make
it in the NFL. And Chad Baker Mazara from Auburn,
(04:32):
he has found a landing spot. He's going to Southern Cal.
And Andres Stryakovich, he was a player that Kentucky was
involved with last season, ended up going to Cal. Put
his name in the portal, and you know, I'm sure
Kentucky had some level of interest, but I don't know.
I think it got serious on that side, but just
(04:52):
interesting to figure out where to learn where he landed
and it's at Illinois with a lot of other European players,
so that is going to be a very international Illinois
lineup next season. For coach Underwood links to the stories
that we talk about each day. You can find those
on the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom Leachky
(05:12):
dot com. Our Wildcat News other day segments always presented
by Giuseppes of Lexington, just off Nicholasville Road out past
manal War here in Lexington, and I think anybody in
this area has certainly been many times. But if you've
never been, and occasionally I'll run into somebody who hasn't,
got to make plans to get to Giuseppes. If you
(05:33):
live here, or the next time you're in Lexington, go
to open table, make plans to get to Giuseppes. The
food's fantastic and a lot of it's locally sourced and
then the ambniance sit in the lounge area, enjoy the
live jazz music to accompany your meal. It's something really
special at Giuseppes. Will be write back and we will
chat with Larry Vatt about UK sports on the Leech Report,
(05:54):
presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Leach Report coming to you from
the Clark's pump Been Shop Studio, return, refresh and refuel
at Clark's and also sign up for their loyalty program
you get great discounts on fuel and items in their stores.
Larry Vaught is with us from your sports Edge dot com,
vossfus dot com on the Club Blueenil dot com hotline.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And if you read Larry's work.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
He does as good a job as anybody has for
years and covering all the sports, and that includes some
that don't get as much attention as football and men's
and women's basketball at the college level. And Larry a
night like last night, the Catsby Awards honors the full
spectrum of athletes in the UK athletics department.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So let me ask you this question.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Of all these athletes that got recognized, and some of
the you know a name like Lamont Butler or Eli
Cox or maybe even Brooklyn Delay Am Macrome, they're they're
a little more recognizable. The average fan maybe has heard
those names more often. Who's somebody who are somebody's that
got recognized that really deserved that special recognition for having
(07:08):
an exceptional year.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I would think Isabella mcbelly jumps out at me as
much or more than anybody for what she did this
year and what she's done during her career on the
UK gymnastics team. I mean, she's been pretty phenomenal, seven
time All America and just became known as the Being
Queen because of the consistency and the excellence she had
(07:33):
performing there. So that would be the one that jumps
out to me, probably more than anybody.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Kind of feels like you're more knowledgeable about this sport
than I because you covered regularly. Gymnastics seems to me
like a little bit like volleyball in that you just
had a feeling that volleyball is going to break through
and win a national title at some point and then
and they stay in the hunt for it regularly with
(07:58):
Craig Skinner and is knocking on the door now multiple
years in succession. Kind of feels like that's going to
happen at some point for them.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Tim Garrison has done a really remarkable job. It is
consistently putting together teams good enough to get to the
region and there's such a small margin between being a
national champion and not quite making the Elite eight or
something that the scores are so close and there's such
a and it's all subjective with how the judges looks
(08:32):
at different things. So it's really a fun sport to
go watch. You've never seen it, I would certainly encourage.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You to go.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
And just for a little shameless plug, this is coming
Sunday morning on our Sunday Morning Sports talk show. We
will have all American Crestlin Bros, Delaney Rodriguez, and Sharon Lay,
three sophomores off this year's team who will be the
building blocks for the next two years because Tam was
bringing in by freshmen that are seemed pretty talented, but
(09:06):
he's losing, like I say, Isabella McNelly and a Hailey
Davis and a couple other seniors who've been really.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Really good.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So those are going to be the three. It'll be
his foundation for the next two years. So if you're
a gymnastics fan at all or I think you might
want to be join us on Sunday morning and you'll
get to hear from them.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All right, And if you joined the guys last Sunday
on the Sunday Morning Sports Talk show, you heard the
Big Dog Vince Marrow on to do a little post
draft discussion and it's some interesting comments about Dion Walker.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
He did said that the Buffalo Bills people that he
talked to thought they might have had to steal the
draft and Dion, and that Vince flat agreed with that
and thinks that Dion was the best defensive tackle in there,
and talked about the fact that where he was injured
last year, he could have just probably set out a
(09:59):
lot of those games when he said he wanted to
try to play, but because he played injured that sometimes
he wasn't as effective as what he could be when
he was healthy, and people didn't quite understand that. And
I'd say I'm one of those because I didn't know
he was hurt either like that, and once you found
out that he was dealing with a back injury, he
kind of wondered how he did manage to.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Play and do what he did.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
So Vince is never going to be lacking confidence in
his players. I mean, that's one thing I like about
Vince is a lot like Mark Pope. He's never going
to throw a guy under the bus. He's always going
to be one hundred percent on their side. But he's
really confident that Dion's going to have a successful NFL career,
and I sure hope that he's right.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And I do too.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
And I understand what you're saying about Vince in his
relationship with his guys, but that seems like that phrase
steel of the draft could be applicable. If you think
back to Dion Walker at his best, and you know
Andrew Carr dealt with back issues. It's something that you
can't see, like when you know, somebody blows out a
(11:01):
knee or injures and achilles, or you know, has a
broken bone or a scar of some point some type.
But back pain can be very real if you've ever
dealt with it, and can be debilitating. So you know,
if that's something that he was, you know, fighting through,
you can understand why it would perhaps affect production. But
(11:21):
I just think back to, Yeah, I think about sometimes
with horses, since it's Derby Week, if you see that
the horse has done something spectacular at some point, well,
you know that's in there and you just got to
find a way to get back to it. And there
was some pretty special plays, especially the first two seasons
that we saw from Dion.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah that's twenty twenty three season. He was just spectacular.
There was a reason he was being mentioned as a
top ten pick in the draft. Going into the twenty
twenty four season. So that was based on what he
did in twenty twenty three and what anybody's saying, Oh no,
that's all overblown, that can't be true. I mean everybody
was pretty much good census, So that was what could happen.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And he dropped considerably his senior year when his production
dropped off.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
But again after you found out that he was hurt,
and I think when you just look at his size
and athleticism, there's still a lot a lot in that
tank that could be right there in the Buffalo Bills
need a player like him. They traded up to get him.
Granted it was in the fourth round, but they still
moved up to make sure that they got him. So
(12:28):
I'm anxious to see how he will do. And it's
really cool that he's going to a team that's really
a good team but yet also seems to have a
spot where they can use him.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Tyer Larry Vott on the Club Blue nil dot com
hotline and we'll continue the conversation here in just a
moment on the Leach Report, presented each and every day
by Bobcat Enterprises. For locations for Bobcat around the state,
so google Bobcat when you need to buy or rent
a piece of heavy equipment. Most likely they're going to
have what you need and they will give you a
(13:00):
fantastic service after the sale as well. Great folks at
Bobcat Enterprises. We'll be right back twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Five past the top of the hour. It is the
Leads Report.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We're visiting with Larry Vott from your sports edge dot com.
A couple more things on football areas or articles that
fans can find at your site. Martell's Carter is you
chatted with his high school coach who he thinks Bartell's
could be a two way player in college. I don't
know that that's going to happen anytime soon, but I
would think that in addition to playing in the secondary,
(13:33):
he could be an impact player on special teams for
them next season.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, I would think so too, and he's an awfully
special guy. But with that ball in his hands, so
I think I've learned to never say never now that
I know Martell's was sensational on the state championship team
last year as a receiver, and maybe there'll be a
chance to put him in there a time or two.
I know I've talked with Vince about that a little
(13:59):
bit couple of different times, and he's kind of like you,
he said, I don't know, but he also never said
that it couldn't possibly happen. So I think he's got
a lot to learn in that secondary right now. But
down the road it wouldn't surprise me and Kentucky scenesas
he'll be looking for receiver help this year, So who
(14:19):
knows what might happen come August.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, that's a fair point down the road. I could
certainly say it usually just I just know coaches are
it's hard to find any who are that aggressive with
a freshman. But we'll see. But you know, he's obviously
a dynamic talent. And then the other one you wrote
about was Dante Daldll, the transfer from Nebraska, and that
(14:44):
he aspires to be more than just the short yardage specialist.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think he came in No.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
One.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That's maybe the role he was recruited to have at Kentucky,
but he wants to show he can do a lot
more than that. I think he did a good bit
of that in this spring of convincing folks that yeah,
he could be your bell cow back there. Maybe that's
and that's what he wants to do. And he's a
guy that's certainly eager to prove that he can excel
in the SEC as an everydawn type of back and
(15:15):
not just a guy you put in on third and
two or fourth and one or something like that. So
I really like his attitude and he seems to have
kind of backed up what he has said with what
he did during the spring practice.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Now you're right about that, And he showed a little
pop in that spring showcase. I think it was the
first play they handed it to him, and I think
had it been tackle football and not touch on that
scrimmage that he might have well gone sixty plus yards
for a touchdown. So he's, you know, not just a
plotter by any means.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, it's kind of like reminded me a little bit
when he broke that one, kind of the first time
I saw Chris Rodriguez break a big run and think, wow,
thank guys got a little more speed to what I
wanted to realize that he that he had that he
can get out there and do a little bit. Now
I can't. We haven't seen how it will be breaking
tackles at the SEC level. Because you just don't get
to see that and what limited training practice were able
(16:09):
to be there for. So but based on what he's
done before, I'm with you. I think he's going to
be probably a much bigger edition of the offense. And
when I first imagined when the Kentucky got in him, you.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Know, I think I'll have to look this up before
the season to confirm it, but I think Chris may
have the record school record for most runs of seventy
yards or more, which you know, not a lot of those,
but I know he had two, if not more.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean, and that's something when he first kind
of burst on the scene. That wasn't the impression that
I had a Chris rotorguess was going to be. But yeah,
that's what he could do. And if Dante can just
kind of have that kind of big playability, maybe they
even can never even see it. But I mean, if
he can just make those two or three yards or
(16:59):
four or five yards stretch him into ten or twelve
because of what he can do with his burst, that
would be a big, big plus for this offense.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
It's an article from ESPN's Jeff Barzella projecting the starting
five for Kentucky men's basketball next season, and he had
low Way acquaintance Diabatee and Jasper Johnson the freshman, and
that seems reasonable. I'd probably think Aberdeen might be there
instead of Jasper, but that could be a great battle,
(17:27):
and it just serves to underscore they're gonna have I think,
probably more quality depth this season.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, they sure are, And I think it would really
be wonderful if Aberdeen didn't start, just because of the
fact he's so used to that role of coming off
the bench and did it so well at Florida. To
know that you've got a guy like that that you
could bring in when you need him off the bench
would certainly give you a weapon that most teams won't have.
(17:56):
But again, I never thought they would be able to
add somebody near as good as him this light with
who they already had on the roster. So that's maybe
as surprised I can pick up as Mark Hope as.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I had Larry Vaught.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Thank you much, all right, Tom, We'll be right back
on the Leach Report. It's the Leach Report coming to
you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, Refresh and
refuel with Clarks. We go to the Club blueenisl dot
com hotline. Bring on Randy Moss from NBC Sports. He'll
be on the coverage this weekend down at Churchill Downs
for Oaks and Derby with Jerry Bailey and the rest
(18:31):
of the crew and Randy will we'll talk a little
bit about the in your NFL work as well and
some thoughts on draft. But let's start obviously with the Derby.
And we have a pretty strong favorite in journalism at
three to one in the morning line and is from
(18:52):
you know, figure standpoint, the impressive all the anybody watches
the workouts in the mornings, all of that coverage, we
now get he's getting rave reviews. So is journalism the
best of a tight pack or is this like, you know,
an American Pharaoh Barbara level kind of separation from the pack.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I think, Tom, I think he's two or three links
better than the field. I I really do. I think
he is the most legitimate favorite that we've had at
the Kentucky Derby, and it's likely to be the shortest
price favorite we've had at the Derby since Justify an
(19:36):
American Pharaoh. Now I'm not, you know, predicting that he's
going to sweep the triple crown or anything like that.
But I think I think he's the real deal. As
a matter of fact, I think the second best three
year old in America is Baieza. And obviously we don't
even know if he's going to be in the lineup
or not.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
What is it about journalism that gives you that confidence
in his chances of winning the Derby?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
He doesn't seem to have any weaknesses as a race horse,
right He's got some tactical speed, but he also is
very patient and can sit I think probably about as
far back as they want him to sit. He's consistent,
the distance is no problem, and more than anything else,
(20:25):
he's fast and we saw that in his race before last.
I think it was the San Felipe where he ran
against Barnes from the Bob Baffert. Barn and Barnes controlled
the pace, nice, easy tempo and the Barnes ran a
hole in the wind. The one mile split that they
ran in that mile in the sixteenth race was off
(20:46):
the charts really fast, and Journalism just ran him down
and very impressively. It was a one oh eight buyer
speed figure. Then he overcame adversity in the satan Ada Derby.
Quite frankly, Jerry Bailey and I have a disagreement about this.
I didn't like the ride that he got, but he
overcame adversity and and won anyway and ran down Baasa,
(21:10):
who was running himself a really strong race. So I
did there's a lot to like there, and on the
ledger of the negatives, very.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Very little, you know, hit the sanity to Derby in
watching that in in real time. Baasa opened up as
they turned into the stretch, and by that point journalism
was still you know, looked like the jockey was really
getting to work on him. You're thinking, Okay, he's he's
not he didn't have it today and you know this
has bothered him or whatever. But once he kind of
(21:39):
extricated himself from that box he was in and got out,
uh in about two strides, you realized if you were
a fan of biasa uh oh, I'm gonna need a
bigger boat.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean he wanted to win, he
had a target, he wanted to run down the target.
And that that, you know, that seems to be one
of the traits about journalism that really stands out the most.
There's a lot to like of it. I'm the main
concern that I have about him, honestly, and it may
not even be a fair concern. I'm always joking with
(22:12):
Jerry Bailey about you know, jockeys don't matter. He mentions
that on the air sometimes and he takes it well.
But my point is that when you get to a
race like the Kentucky Derby, when you get to days
like the Breeders' Cup, there's very little difference between elite
jockey A, B, C, D, E, F G. And in
(22:32):
the Derby you get elite jockeys. So you know, I
think people that handicap the jockeys in some of these
races are making a mistake because they're pretty much all
good I have, and maybe I'm wrong I have. I
don't want to say reservations, but I know that if
this race were on the grass on Berto recently would
(22:53):
be on that short list career wise, stat wise, he
has been much better on grass than dirt, and there
was trouble in the Santinita Derby, so that would be
my primary concern, But maybe that's a little overblown now.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I think I see where you're coming from.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I talked to a group in Louisville last Friday, And
as you know, listing all the good qualities about journalism,
I said the two things that could get him beat
and that's one of them. If the you know, the jockie,
and we don't know that he's unable to do it,
it's just there's nothing to definitively say that he has.
(23:35):
And right going into the NC DOUBLEA tournament, Mark Pope,
Todd Golden had never won an NC DOUBLEA tournament game
and they did okay because they had better horses, so
to speak, than they'd had before.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So that could be exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
And I'm still picking journalism, and I'm confident in journalism.
But you know, if you have to say, you know,
all right, well you know what's a possible negative about journalism,
that would be about the only thing that I could
come up with. But we've seen repeatedly in derby history
jockeys that had never won the derby before, maybe even
ever ridden in the derby before, you know, come through
because they were on the best horse. Stuart Elliott and
(24:11):
Smarty Jones, you know, Ron Franklin and Spectacular Bid. You
you can go way back and pick out several of them.
You know Sunny leone and rich Strike.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, very recently.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
The other thing I wondered about, and you've been around
maybe journalism a little bit, just in terms of he
is a big horse and long stride and those kinds
of horses. You know, you know, he did get kind
of trapped in a box, still got out of it
down in the Sanity To Derby, but those horses, you know,
(24:45):
not as nimble as say It was kind of like
the difference between Sunday Silence and easygo Er a little
bit back in eighty nine. Is that something that is
a concern or did the post position draw maybe alleviate
any of that.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I think journalism for a horse of his size is
pretty nimble, and I know Michael McCarthy talks about that
and recently talks about that as well. And you saw
in the san Anita Derby when when he got race
ridden so to speak, by one Hernandez and Barnes right
outside of him, and the riders were even kind of
exchanging elbows at one point at the seven sixteenth pol.
(25:20):
It was only a team tactics there. It was good
race riding, but you know, journalism was in a difficult
spot and Fortunately for journalism, Hernandez ran out a horse
on Barns and couldn't keep him locked in there behind
the maiden who was setting the pace. And as soon
as Barnes dropped back off a little bit, you saw
journalism quickly just boom, get to the outside and really
(25:44):
start to roll, a really quick turn of foot. So
that doesn't bother me that much.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I don't think talking with Randy Moss from NBC Sports.
Will take a break and continue the conversation here in
just a bit about Derby One's fifty one this Saturday
at Churchill Downs. It's the Leach Report and we are
presented by Bobcat Enterprises quarter before the time of the
hour of visiting with Randy Moss from NBC Sports. She'll
be part of the team covering the Oaks and Derby
(26:10):
this weekend. Rand if you go to a department story
of the men's department's department, the children's department after the
post position draw, looks like you have the speed department
down in one part of the starting gate and the
closer department and other parts of the gate. I thought
that was an interesting angle to this race in terms
of pretty much all the speed being down there congested together.
(26:33):
So what are you expecting in terms of the race?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Strategically very fast pace.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
I was expecting it before the draw, and as you
pointed out, with all the but not all the speed,
but a lot of the speed, you know, down in
the inside half a dozen post positions, it certainly makes
it look like that's what's going to happen. I think, yeah,
I do a lot of pace work, and I used
to have pace figures in the racing form and things
like that, so I think I've got a pretty good
grip on the pace. To me, the pace is going
(27:01):
to come down between Citizen Bowl and East Avenue. I
think Citizen bowls faster than Rodriguez, And you know they
were talking about Owen Almighty trying to settle him a
little bit off the pace. I honestly think Citizen Bull
is going to set the pace. I think he'll beat
East Avenue to the lead. But I think it's going
to come at a cost. They're going to have to
(27:22):
They're going to be rolling, and so that's why, you know,
I'm looking like almost everybody else, I think I'm I'm
looking at the closers. I mean, I think it's journalism sovereignty,
Sandman Basa. If he gets in, I mean, I think
the winner is going to come out of out of
one of those four. Pace being the primary reason, other
(27:44):
than journalism being the best horse.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, if any horse can hold up to exceptionally fast
pace and still have something in the stretch, I would
always think is the best guy to bet on is
a baffer horse to do that because exactly of how
fit they're going to be. I think of like body Meister,
(28:06):
who you know, just Baffort is one of the Baffert horses.
He just took the fight to everybody, and anybody that
dared to be too close to him got fried. But
he still couldn't hold off one of the closers. But
that's the interesting angle on that horse. Because boys looked
good on the track this week and he had a
spensation to work out yesterday.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Yeah, I'm not sure he's got the sheer speed that
Body Meister had. But a lot of people were, you know,
handwringing and stuff about the number one post position for
Citizen Ball. I love it, absolutely love it. He's a
horse that has to have the lead, I think, and
I know Martine Garcia loved it because now there's no
(28:47):
ambiguity he's going. And you know, I like for a
speed horse that needs to have the lead, I like
the number one post. And if there is a horse
that is going to be able to carry the field
a long way on the early lead, I think Citizen
Bull would be that horse because of the baffort factor,
because of what we've seen from him in the past,
(29:09):
because of the way he's training, and also because the
racing surface at Santa Anita has become much deeper than
it used to be. And now these horses go from
Santa Anita to Churchill, and the Churchill surface is actually
tighter and faster than sant Anita, And I think that'll
work to Citizen Bule's favor as well.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
If your assessment of journalism is accurate, then there's a
separation between him and the rest of the pack. It
seems to me that that rest of the pack, if
you don't pick journalism, then it becomes hard to really
get convinced on any one of the rest. Would that
be correct?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I think so, I think that's correct. I actually think
I think I said this earlier with you. I think
Maasa is the second best three year old in America.
Maybe I didn't say that, but and post twenty wouldn't
bother me at all for Baeza, just because of the way,
as you pointed out, the way the race looks like
it's developing. You've got five or six speed horses, you've
(30:09):
got six or seven deep closers, and then you've got
this gap in the middle. They're going to be pretty
stretched out because of the pace, and post twenty is
actually not a bad spot to be because you can
kind of ease over in that middle area and not
lose as much ground as you would think from post twenty. Sovereignty,
I think he's set to run a much better race
than he ran into Florida Derby. He's shown that he
(30:29):
loves Churchill Downs. He hasn't had the kind of pace
in front of him that he's going to get in
the Kentucky Derby. If you go back and look at
how awesome he was when he won the street since
at Churchill Downs as a two year old, there was
no pace in that race, and he still came from
last and outran Sandman, and I think Fantastic was in there.
So I think Sovereignty's going to run a big race too.
And Sandman. People look at his Arkansas Derby and they say, oh, yeah, okay,
(30:55):
he won, but he had a forty five and changed
pace in front of him. He had the perfect setup. Well,
what do you think is going to happen to the derby?
You know? So that's why I think, you know, one
of those horses is are going to be the biggest
threats to journalism sovereignty Sandman and Beza.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
What about the Kentucky Oaks on Friday? Do you have
a similar opinion on any one horse?
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Not really, tom uh. This this is the classic handicapping dilemma.
Do you believe what your lying eyes tell you or
do you believe what's on paper? If you if you
go by what you watch, then they can't beat Good
Cheer because you know, she's just she seems to just
(31:39):
dominate any of the horses that she's running against, and
she's going to be a pretty solid favorite. But on paper,
the numbers, the analytics, she doesn't have much of an
edge at all over you know, Quiet Side and simply
joking and five G and some of these other three
year old phillies in there as well. So it wouldn't
(32:01):
surprise me at all. I leaned toward the analytics more
than the visuals, So it wouldn't surprise me at all
if if good Cheer is a heavy favorite but someone
takes her down.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Shift to an NFL question.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
You've covered the league for a long time, how crazy
was it following this draft with what happened to Shaduur Sanders?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Crazy? Absolutely crazy when you consider that the networks that
were covering the draft, you know, sort of made Shadur
Sanders a poster child going in and all the promos
and everything is Shadure, this shadure that uh and fit round,
I mean for crying out allowd. But then in hindsight,
(32:43):
it really shouldn't have been I think that big of
a shock because now when you think about it and
you talk to some NFL people his skills, he's obviously
very talented, but he's most of the NFL, I don't
want to say analysts, but you know, most of the
(33:03):
people who study this sort of thing, personnel people in
the NFL believe that Shadur Sanders is not the kind
of quarterback given the system he ran in Colorado that's
going to step in and be a Day one starter
in the NFL. So he's going to need to be
a backup initially, and with his notoriety, his reputation, it's
(33:24):
going to be a distraction. He's not going to be this,
you know, this invisible backup quarterback that NFL teams love.
He's going to be somebody that the media is going
to be hyper focused on. And then there's the personality
aspect of it, right because he had the personality to
sit patiently, quietly as a backup quarterback. And when you
(33:46):
hear about the interviews that he had that some of
the NFL teams were concerned about, I think that was
their primary concern. So it doesn't surprise me that, in
hindsight now that a lot of these teams were hesitant
to put themselves in that kind of a spot.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Randy, thank you much. Have a great week in Kentucky
and a great show this or good shows this weekend.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Thanks so much. I'm stomping around the backside right now.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Well I'm sure you're in great company. Thank you, Randy.
Take you.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
It is Randy Moss from NBC Sports. Corn Bread Hemp
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Speaker 2 (35:09):
At check out.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
We'll be right back. Shufflebean Coffee He's made right here
in the Bluegrass group of Kentuckians got together to form
the company more than a decade ago with the idea
of making the best cup of coffee possible. They like
to say they follow the process of the quality from
seed to cup. Starts with the very best coffee Beans.
You can read more about the company in that process
(35:32):
at Shufflebean dot Us. You order some product there, you
can get it through Amazon or pick it up at
Central Kentucky Myers Stores. Put some hustle in your shuffle
with Kentucky based Shufflebean Coffee stand. Wildcat History is the
service of Kentucky road Show Sports Cards in Memorabilia. They're
on Romney Road in Lexington at a roadshowcards dot Com.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
On this day, Kentucky fans bought seventy five thousand blue
dipped makers Mark Bottles celebrate the nineteen ninety eight National
Championship run. Happy birthday to the voice of UK baseball
and women's basketball, Darren Headrick. He'll be working on his
birthday down in Bowling Green on the call of the
Kentucky baseball game tonight at Western at six forty five Eastern,
(36:16):
and he shares a birthday with one of the all
time greats for Kentucky women's basketball, Ryan Howard, So happy
birthday to both of them. Congratulations to Matt Wise, a
former Transylvania University player played for Brian Lane over at Trancy.
He's been named the new women's head basketball coach at Samford.
He is the son of friend of the show, Mark Wise,
(36:37):
is a long time analyst on the Florida Gator Network
now is a college basketball analyst for ESPN. Been on
the show many times, so I know he's and his
wife are very proud of their son Matt getting this
big opportunity. Take a second to talk about the official
nil fundraising partner for UK That is Club Blue and
a new initiative that they are launching, Club Blue Kids.
(36:59):
It's the ultimate club for young Wildcat fans. Get them
started early. Members get awesome perks. You get access to
exclusive events, athlete experiences, meet and greets, a membership card,
an official Kids club T shirt and lanyard and you
get it all as a member of Club Blue Kids.
And it's totally free. Sign up now at Club blueodil
(37:21):
dot com. Click the Kids tab to register and some
big things are coming soon, So get your young cat
fans signed up Club Blue nil dot com. Club Blue
Kids were future Cats rep the Blue with Pride. UK
Men's tennis chosen for another NCAA tournament. They will face
Old Dominion on Friday at two Eastern time. Thanks to
(37:44):
Larry Vott, Thanks to Randy Moss and giving us his
great insight on the Derby. Today our Derby and Triple
Crown coverage again this springs presented by Clayborne Farm doing
the usual unusually well for more than a century. Have
a great day and will see you tomorrow. On the
Leak's Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises
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